Such footwear is common, and is worn for the reasons that the footwear in itself is considered elegant, it accentuates the shape of the wearer's leg, and it increases the height of the wearer. However, traditional "high-heels" have the drawbacks that they can be uncomfortable and tiring, especially when worn for prolonged periods. This is attributable to three main reasons. Firstly, the human foot naturally projects forwardly from the leg generally at right angles. However, when walking or standing in high-heels the foot is forced to assume an unnatural downward angle of anything up to about 45 degrees, and thus the muscles controlling the ankle joint cannot work in their most effective and efficient manner. Secondly, due to the enforced angle of the foot, the load of the body cannot be borne primarily by the heel of the foot, with the toes and the ball of the foot being used primarily for balance and control, but, instead, the foot is forced into the shoe or boot, causing undue pressure on the ball of the foot and pinching of the wearer's toes and forward edges of the foot by the shoe or boot. Thirdly, walking involves, with each step, a three-fold action of placing the heel on the ground; "rolling" from the heel to the ball of the foot; and then lifting the ball of the foot from the ground. With conventional high-heels, as the heel is placed on the ground, the heel piece of the shoe or boot projects downwardly and forwardly and tends to dig into the walking surface, and then, with the rolling action of the step, the heel piece becomes more vertical and tends to lift the wearer's heel slightly. Thus, with each step, not only is there an abrupt physical shock caused by the heel piece digging into the walking surface, but also there is a kick-back effect at the beginning of the rolling action. It should also be noted that traditional high-heels, in addition to causing discomfort in the wearer's foot, also tend to produce back-ache, due to the unnatural walking action which is required.
With the foot geometry required by high-heels, some of the disadvantages mentioned above cannot be avoided, but the present invention is concerned with alleviating at least some of the disadvantages, whilst at the same time retaining the desirable or attractive features of high-heeled footwear.
The basic approach taken by the invention is to provide the degree of springiness to the heel. Such an approach has been taken in the past with regard to shoes in general, and in this connection reference is directed to patent specifications GB 569169, GB 660774, U.S. Pat. No. 1,625,048, U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,490, U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,153 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,447,603. More particularly, the provision of a degree of resilience to the heels of high-heeled footwear has been considered in the past, as shown in patent specifications FR 2112848, FR 2105684, GB 591740. GB 875788 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,044,191. A problem with the high-heels shown in these latter specifications is that none of them provides a shoe which combines the three features of elegance, stability and durability.